Tax deductible expenses of specific costs of care

For the levy of income tax in the Netherlands, only certain costs of care, illness and disability are tax deductible. The following conditions need to be met:

• Only expenses are deductible which are actually made by the taxpayer in relation to the illness and/or disability;
• The expenses can only be deducted in the year that the expenses have been paid;
• Only expenses which are not covered by the health insurance can be deducted.

If the expenses fall within the own risk of the health insurance (in Dutch: 'eigen risico'), a deduction in the income tax return is also not allowed.

Specific costs of care are deductible if relating to:

• medical or surgical care, with the exception of eye laser treatment for the replacement of glasses;
• transport to a doctor or hospital, or higher travel expenses due to sickness or handicap;
• pharmaceutical auxiliaries on prescriptions of a physician;
• other tools, such as hearing aid and arch support;
• extra family care (only partially deductible);
• the extra cost in relation to a diet on medical prescription or on prescription of a dietician;
• extra clothes and bedding and related expenditures;
• the cost of travel for visiting a person who has been admitted to an hospital or care center if the travel distance (directly though the most common route) is at least 10 kilometers, provided that the admission exceeds the period of 1 month and the person admitted belonged to the household of the taxpayer.

The law provides for various conditions to be met and limitations for the deduction of the expenses referred to above. 

If the taxpayer has a fiscal partner during the entire year, the aforementioned expenses may be accumulated.

The amount of the expenses referred to as the second through the seventh item above may be increased with (2023) 113% if the taxpayer had at least the state pension age at the beginning of the tax year (40% if the taxpayer is younger than the state pension age at the beginning of the tax year) and the total income (before deduction personal allowance) does not exceed € 38,703 (2023).

The aggregate amount of the expenses of specific costs of care is only tax deductible to the extent it exceeds a certain threshold. This threshold depends on the amount of income. For the year 2023 the following thresholds apply:

If the taxpayer is allowed to include the expenses of his/her fiscal partner, the income of the partners should be counted together and the aforementioned threshold of € 8,603 becomes € 17,206 and the amount of € 149 becomes € 298.